This announcement comes on the back of an earlier MOCIE statement which said the South Korean government could do “nothing” about the union worker’s strike at the LG-Caltex plant.
According to MOCIE, “It could take anywhere between seven days to one month for LG-Caltex to restart its 650,000 bpd Yosu refinery but [there will be no] domestic oil supply disruptions as the Government [has] already put in place a contingency plan.”
“The government could release oil products stocks held by state-run Korea National Oil Co (KNOC) to cover for any shortfall in domestic supply [and it has] also secured an agreement with other oil refiners to expand supplies should the need arise,” it added.
According to SK Corp, South Korea’s largest oil refiner, it was willing to accept requests for more oil supplies.
In a statement the company said, “[The] Company [is] ready to accept requests for more oil supplies, either by the government or by LG-Caltex, but there [are also] no immediate plans to increase operating rates of [our] 810,000 bpd Ulsan refinery, [which] is currently running at 68% rates.”
It is understood LG-Caltex, which has a 30% market share in Korea, has been forced to declare force majeure and is struggling to meet export commitments.
